Contents

Color codes

Hex digit to color mapping. Use § followed by the corresponding color letter/number; e.g. §e will give you yellow.

Messages sent from the server to the client can contain color codes, which allow coloring of text for various purposes.

A section sign (§) followed by a hex digit in the message tells the client to switch colors while displaying text.

Code

Official Name

Technical Name

Foreground Color

Background Color

R

G

B

Hex

R

G

B

Hex

§0

Black

black

0

0

0

000000

0

0

0

000000

§1

Dark Blue

dark_blue

0

0

170

0000AA

0

0

42

00002A

§2

Dark Green

dark_green

0

170

0

00AA00

0

42

0

002A00

§3

Dark Aqua

dark_aqua

0

170

170

00AAAA

0

42

42

002A2A

§4

Dark Red

dark_red

170

0

0

AA0000

42

0

0

2A0000

§5

Dark Purple

dark_purple

170

0

170

AA00AA

42

0

42

2A002A

§6

Gold

gold

255

170

0

FFAA00

42

42

0

2A2A00

§7

Gray

gray

170

170

170

AAAAAA

42

42

42

2A2A2A

§8

Dark Gray

dark_gray

85

85

85

555555

21

21

21

151515

§9

Blue

blue

85

85

255

5555FF

21

21

63

15153F

§a

Green

green

85

255

85

55FF55

21

63

21

153F15

§b

Aqua

aqua

85

255

255

55FFFF

21

63

63

153F3F

§c

Red

red

255

85

85

FF5555

63

21

21

3F1515

§d

Light Purple

light_purple

255

85

255

FF55FF

63

21

63

3F153F

§e

Yellow

yellow

255

255

85

FFFF55

63

63

21

3F3F15

§f

White

white

255

255

255

FFFFFF

63

63

63

3F3F3F

Formatting codes

Text can be formatted using the § symbol followed by a character.

[INFO] The § symbol can only be used in Book and Quills in Minecraft without using an external program. Some Bukkit plugins allow you to use § to format other text. The § symbol may be used in the server.properties file and the Minecraft Server text box.

To enter "§" on Windows with most US/UK English keyboards type Alt+21, or Alt+0167 (In both cases, you must use the Number Pad). On a Mac US keyboard, ⌥ Option+6 (⌥ Option+5 for US Extended). On Linux with the compose key activated, type Composeso. Alternatively, you can copy the character from this page, and press Ctrl+V to paste the character into a book. Note that this does not work on the Minecraft chat bar or Command Block GUI.

If a color code is used after a formatting code, the formatting code will be disabled beyond the color code point. For example, §cX§nY displays as XY, whereas §nX§cY displays as XY. Therefore, when using a color code in tandem with a formatting code, ensure the color code is used first and reuse the formatting code when changing colors.

§r can be used to reset all texts format beyond it, e.g. §nXXX§rYYY displays as XXXYYY

Code

Official Name

§k

Obfuscated

§l

Bold

§m

Strikethrough

§n

Underline

§o

Italic

§r

Reset

Note: The random characters placed after §k will always be the same width as the original characters, except if using [ and ] in 1.4.5 - 1.5.2. For example, any random character cycled through where the letter "m" would be wide characters while any random character in the spot an "i" would be narrow characters.

Sample Text

The following text can be pasted into a Book and Quill to produce what is shown in the picture at the top of the page:

In order to get a MOTD colored or formatted you need to put \u00A7 instead of the §. So for example, §5 would turn into \u00A75. The full list of these is listed below.

Code

Official Name

MOTD code

§0

Black

\u00A70

§1

Dark Blue

\u00A71

§2

Dark Green

\u00A72

§3

Dark Aqua

\u00A73

§4

Dark Red

\u00A74

§5

Dark Purple

\u00A75

§6

Gold

\u00A76

§7

Gray

\u00A77

§8

Dark Gray

\u00A78

§9

Blue

\u00A79

§a

Green

\u00A7a

§b

Aqua

\u00A7b

§c

Red

\u00A7c

§d

Light Purple

\u00A7d

§e

Yellow

\u00A7e

§f

White

\u00A7f

§k

Obfuscated

\u00A7k

§l

Bold

\u00A7l

§m

Strikethrough

\u00A7m

§n

Underline

\u00A7n

§o

Italic

\u00A7o

§r

Reset

\u00A7r

\n

Extra line

\n

Compatibility with older versions

Formatting codes can be used in the motd line in a server.properties file, but the section signs must be escaped as \u00A7. If a section sign is entered directly, the server will replace it with \u00C2\u00A7 (Â§); clients will display the \u00C2 character as a question mark. Delete the \u00C2 character in the MOTD if it comes with a bunch of question marks. This will happen if you are using minecraft version 1.2.5 or below, or something is not compatible.

Use in custom language packs

Formatting codes can be used to color names and description in language files by using § then any of the numbers/letters displayed above. This is also used in end.txt and credits.txt. An example of this is §bDiamond§r to make the name of a diamond appear as Diamond.

Use in world names

With the use of external tools, such as NBTExplorer, world names can have custom colors and formatting codes. To modify the name, you can choose the LevelName tag in the world's level.dat. In this example, LevelName is set to:

§1R§2e§3d§4s§5t§6o§7n§8e §9C§ar§be§ca§dt§ei§fo§1n§2s

Additionally, you can rename the world's folder to contain one of the codes. In the world selection menu, the specified color or effect will appear.

You can also use a resource pack with a § already in the world name when creating a world and all the user has to do is to change the color code after the §.

Use in server names

With the use of a third party tool such as NBTExplorer, server names can have custom colors. To utilize this functionality you select the Name attribute in the servers.dat file in your .minecraft directory using your third party tool. In the following example the Name tag is set to:

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